The Battle Of War Of 1916

Many homosexuals that served in the Military prior to 2015 had to hide who they were and their loved ones throughout their career. They were forbidden to get married and receive the same benefits as their heterosexual

The issue of gays in the military has been controversial in the United States for many decades. Over these decades there have been many different proposals as to what approach to take in order to handle the situation of homosexuals in the military. However, in 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for President of the United States, he made a promise to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military if he was elected (Washington Post). Bill Clinton followed through with his promise, and in December 1993 he instituted “a defense directive that military applicants should not to be asked about their sexual orientation” (Washington Post). This is now known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was the result

In the most publicized gay bashing, the dead body of Adam R. Schindler Jr., an American naval radioman, was found battered and disfigured in a public toilet in a park in Japan where he had been serving [Sterngold]. After revealing his homosexuality to his peers in the army, he had been left unrecognizably mutilated and beaten to death. In response, in 1993, the Clinton administration initiated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” [DADT] which meant that military officers could not investigate a soldier’s sexual preference without reason and a soldier should not voluntarily disclose it [McGowan 4]. Historically, the US military had never directly banned gays, only their actions of sodomy, but a change occurred during the World Wars after the Christian

If homosexuals are exposed while the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is still in effect, they could be discharged from the military. The blackmailing of fellow soldier is immoral and unethical and should not be put into practice. Discriminating upon homosexuals is wrong because everyone is equal and should be treated fairly. Soldiers that are discovered doing so should be discharged themselves.

There are claims that allowing gays and lesbians into the service openly about their sexual orientation is violation to all service members’ privacy. Officially, military commanders and investigators are required to respect service members’ privacy and are not allowed to investigate personnel for homosexuality. This action is described as a witch hunt. Witch hunts distract the service members from their work and the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” made this distraction easier. This causes interference with the ability for them to do their job performance effectively.

Many other countries included soldiers that were gay. There are sources that stated that Hitler’s SS guard included

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was one of the most influential procedures enacted by the United States Military during the 1990’s, and it continued to shape the Military until its repeal almost two decades after its passing. While allowing homosexuals to serve in the military, DADT also prevented those gay soldiers from revealing their sexuality, and forbid members of Armed Forces from inquiring about the sexuality of other soldiers. It had a massive influence on service members; by 2008, DADT had caused the discharge of over 12,000 officers who did not hide their sexual preference (“Don’t Ask, Don’t…”). After the policy had been in place for almost twenty years, Congress proposed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act in 2010. Despite

The military leadership believed gay and lesbian service members were not fit for military service, were a security risk, threatened cohesion in the unit, and they violated the privacy of members of their units who were not gay. This outlook has however been refuted by policy makers, who according to Huffman et al., (2012) argued that sexual orientation was not a sufficient ground to reduce the performance of an individual during combat. General Powell alluded to this when putting a case for the group to a senate committee. According to Huffman et al., (2012) the rationale banning gays from military service also went against the just war theory since according to General Colin Powell the gays and lesbians were proud, brave and loyal citizens who deserved a chance to serve the nation. The ban on the gays also went against constitution on freedom of discrimination of all American citizens through race, color or creed. During my time in the service, I only had to chapter one Soldier out of the service due to the DADT, we didn’t know he was gay, until one night of drinking in the barracks, he made a pass at another Soldier and that Soldier reported him to his chain of

In 1993 President Bill Clinton signed a law that set the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue, and don’t harass” when dealing with homosexuals serving in the Armed Services. The policy was a compromise to allow homosexuals to legally serve in the military as long as they did not declare their lifestyle or engage in conduct that was in violation of military good order and discipline. Supporters viewed the law as a step forward in achieving equal rights for homosexuals. Opponents remained concerned that the policy could jeopardize morale and unit effectiveness. “The Joint Chiefs, including the chairman, had all came out against the president on gays serving in the military” (Gates 440). Over time the military was able to adapt to the new policy and restore force readiness. In 2010 the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was repealed and homosexuals were given the opportunity to openly serve in the military. The Joint Chiefs once again objected and questioned the timing of the change. Many believe the repeal was politically motivated and a bad idea that would add additional disruption to an already strained fighting force.

RAND then proposed a policy that they believed was best suited for the Secretary of Defense and the President. Based on the research they obtained, they determined that to “consider sexual orientation, by itself, as not germane to determining who may serve in the military” (Rostker 1993, pg. XVIII), and was then adjusted to keep the private sexual acts between consenting adults protected. Clearly, the policy that was drafted up, with the help of the same people that helped push the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, was protecting the rights of the LBGT community and allowing them to come out in the military without hindering a private relationship. The heterosexual community had the same restrictions that the homosexual community had on public displays of affection, but whether they were upheld or not based upon sexual orientation, was then shown to be a matter of what the judicial system wanted to read out of the policy enacted, not because there was not the protection in place before. Was there a need for policy repeal, or was there just a need for social evolution to match the

On February 28, 1994 the Clinton administration passed a United states policy called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This policy allowed gays to serve in the military. However they were not allowed to be openly gay. This policy was created to make an agreement in between the conservatives and the liberals. Although some people might believe that this policy is a good thing, I believe that it is a bad thing because, it is not effective, it pushes people away from the military, and there will be less sexual harassment.

Between the Second World War and the attacks of 9/11, it is estimated that around 100 thousand soldiers were removed from the military service because of their sexual orientation. Many of these discharged servicemen and women have attempted to regain their promised benefits of being in the military. Until more recent times, these attempts for benefits had always failed. From 1983 to 2010, 8,446 Army soldiers were discharged because these soldiers were homosexual. The first discharge of a homosexual soldier

Despite the challenges and following numerous public debates and congressional hearings, President Clinton has able to reach a compromise in 1993. “The ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue’’ policy passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993 was the compromise outcome of Clinton’s campaign promise to repeal the ban on military service by homosexuals” (Rich, Schutten & Rogers, 2012). Soldiers would not be actively screened and as long as their sexual orientation was kept personal, there would be no adverse actions taken. Under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” between 1993 and 2011, over 14,000 military men and women were discharged due to their sexual orientation (“11 Facts About,” n.d.).

Once we reached the 20th century, where homosexual behavior began to enter public conversation as medical authorities made up the term “sexual inverts” to describe these unwanted individuals, the military officers of World War I, began to officially make efforts to prohibit gays and lesbians Americans from serving. These actions to bar gay and lesbian continued up until the late 1930s. However, World War II profoundly transformed American society. 15 million US citizens relocated from rural towns to urban cities to work in defense jobs, and roughly that number of men were drafted into armed services. Famously symbolized by Rosie the Riveter, females entered the work force in mass, and the racial complexion of America also changed as African-Americans moved northward, as well as a large Mexican populace replaced the "relocated" Japanese-Americans in California. The war also effected gay citizens living in this country at the time. Gay males and females were drafted into service even though their presence was not necessarily welcome. Not dissimilar to earlier treatment by this nation’s military guard, suspected gay and lesbian GIs, though still not permissible

The Articles of War of 1916 covered the issue of homosexual behavior for the first time, although exclusion was limited to assault with the intent to commit sodomy. A revision of these regulations in 1920 added the act of consensual sodomy as criminal behavior and made it punishable by imprisonment. Commanders retained considerable discretion over the discipline of soldiers under their command. There is evidence of both the participation of gay military personnel and of discharges for homosexuality as far back as the revolutionary war.